The Darling Family's Endless Summer Vacation: August 2013 New 1/24

[dismagiclover]

Once we reached Downtown Disney the first store we entered was Basin.

Wendy loves this store, but even the boys were digging the smelly stuff this day. Probably because it was air conditioned. We bought a little thing of smelly bath salts. Then we headed to Team Mickey.

Michael loves this place because it is all things sports. We saw something we considered getting.

I sent this to DH to see if he wanted it. He is a big Jackie Robinson fan. He never replied to the text so we didn’t get it. Next we headed to the Make Your Own T-shirt place where the boys proceeded to make their own t-shirts. Michael’s design cracked me up. I really should have taken a picture. It had Pluto on it with the words, “Here comes Pluto wagging his tail. He’s a great pal.” If we would have actually bought it just imagine how crazy Pluto would have gone at meet ‘n greets. Anyway, I told Michael he’d have to use his own money to get it and he didn’t want it that much. (Cause let’s face it. He would never wear it outside of Disney World.) Next we headed here.

Of course we can’t come here without indulging in some Make Your Own Treats. I didn’t take any pictures of this year’s treats, but here is a picture of a past year’s haul.

Yummy! Then we headed to the Lego store.

We did actually buy something here because I remember standing in line, but I have no memory of what it was. After the Lego store we went over to the World of Disney.

Lots of browsing ensued. I’m not sure we came away with anything at this moment, but sometime during this trip we did buy this adorable guy.

As you can imagine this is Michael’s favorite Mickey stuffy. At this point we headed back to Kidani. DH was waiting for us. He hadn’t really done anything at Epcot because the lines were too long and it was hot. Imagine that. Anyway, he was still glad he’d missed Downtown Disney. At this point we probably went for a swim.

We didn’t have any solid evening plans. What do you think we did?

 

[RGirl]

Fun shopping afternoon! That Mickey is super-cute!

Can't wait to hear what y'all were up to next.

 

[dismagiclover]

Fun shopping afternoon! That Mickey is super-cute!

Can't wait to hear what y'all were up to next.

I love that Mickey too! Though we are a bit overloaded with stuffies around here.

 

[dismagiclover]

This will probably be the last update I get in before a brief hiatus. We leave Thursday for our Christmas trip. I wanted to be done with this report before we headed out, but I guess when you go on endless vacations they lead to endless trip reports. But I will be back and will finish this report. No promises about a report for the Christmas trip though. For now let's get back to August in Florida.

I suggested a Magic Kingdom evening, but only Wendy bit. So Wendy and I left the boys lounging around Kidani and headed out to the Magic Kingdom. First stop on our Girls Night Out was on Main Street for a picture. Here is what we got.

Details for this evening are a little sketchy and I don’t have many pictures either. I do know we went to dinner at Columbia Harbor House. I had the Tuna Sandwich.

Wendy had the nuggets.

She proclaimed these the best nuggets in Disney World. I don’t think they are different than any other nuggets. I’m thinking maybe she was just extra hungry. After dinner we probably rode some rides. Since I was with Wendy I would guess we rode Little Mermaid and Pooh. One thing I do remember about this evening is trying this delicious treat.

This was fabulous. I think it may become a regular thing for me. Wendy and I both like watching the fireworks in front of the castle so after finishing up our waffle we headed over to the hub. We actually arrived about 5 minutes before the Castle Show started, but we were able to find a really good spot in the hub. I suppose it was because there were only 2 of us. We watched the castle show.

This really is a cool show. Then we watched the fireworks. Here are a couple pictures I took with my phone.

You can tell how close we were to the castle. In fact we were probably a little too close, but considering we arrived right before showtime I am not complaining. After the fireworks we were planning on hanging around and riding some more rides. We ventured over into Tomorrowland, but everything was closed and it was deserted. The cast members actually told us we had to leave. I thought the park was open until 11:00, but apparently they had shut all the rides down early. So we headed out of the park. Sorry I don’t have more pictures of this evening. Wendy and I both love our mother/daughter late nights. There is just something magic about the parks at night. Especially in the summertime!

Next up: Hello to Hollywood.

 

[DisneyJo]

I hope you have a fabulous trip and a very Merry Christmas

 

[mickeystoontown]

Just in case I don't get back over here before you leave....have a super fantastic trip!

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[RGirl]

Oh, my goodness! I can’t believe you are leaving on Thursday!!! Have a wonderful trip - I can’t wait to read all about it (there will be a TR, right????? No promises, pfft…..).

Awww - your mom and daughter Main Street PP pics are lovely.

Mmmm - all the foods looks delish. I’m with Wendy - as logical as it may seem that all the foods like nuggets and such should be the same everywhere, I vividly remember having really good nuggets in AK on our first trip and then down-right horrible ones at DHS later in the same trip.

Wow - your pics from the castle show are great! I hope to see it someday……

Merry Christmas!!!

 

[chattadisser]

What a nice girls night. I love Columbia Harbor House and my girls swear those are the best nuggets too!

I love the parks at night!

Have a wonderful trip! If no TR, maybe just a retrospective about a Christmas trip?

Christine

 

[burly]

Back into the swing of things and on the Dis again.
Just caught up.
Hope you are having a great Christmas trip, so jealous!!!


KIM

 

[dismagiclover]

I hope you have a fabulous trip and a very Merry Christmas

We are back and we had a fabulous trip and the Merriest Christmas ever!

Just in case I don't get back over here before you leave....have a super fantastic trip!

Once again I think this trip was the best ever! It was so magical to be there at Christmas!

Great update!

Thanks

Oh, my goodness! I can’t believe you are leaving on Thursday!!! Have a wonderful trip - I can’t wait to read all about it (there will be a TR, right????? No promises, pfft…..).

Awww - your mom and daughter Main Street PP pics are lovely.

Mmmm - all the foods looks delish. I’m with Wendy - as logical as it may seem that all the foods like nuggets and such should be the same everywhere, I vividly remember having really good nuggets in AK on our first trip and then down-right horrible ones at DHS later in the same trip.

Wow - your pics from the castle show are great! I hope to see it someday……

Merry Christmas!!!

I will probably end up doing a Christmas trip report, but still no promises. I have to finish this one up! I guess time will tell!

What a nice girls night. I love Columbia Harbor House and my girls swear those are the best nuggets too!

I love the parks at night!

Have a wonderful trip! If no TR, maybe just a retrospective about a Christmas trip?

Christine

If I don't do a full blown trip report, I will definitely do a shorter summing up of the trip. It was just too fun not to talk about it!

Back into the swing of things and on the Dis again.
Just caught up.
Hope you are having a great Christmas trip, so jealous!!!


KIM

Welcome back! And this endless trip report is still going on.

So right now I'm trying to get all the boring daily life stuff done. You know laundry, grocery shopping etc. But I'll try to get an update up in the next day or two. I want to finish this one up because it seems like ancient history. Christmas at Disney is fabulous! Honestly, even better than I thought it would be! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas too.

 

[dismagiclover]

We were up bright and early once again. Today was the family Hollywood Studios day. We left AKV around 8:00 I believe for the ride over to Hollywood. This is as good a place to mention my opinion of AKV’s location as any, I suppose. I do not like its location. It is sooo far away from everything except Animal Kingdom park and Blizzard Beach. We are used to Boardwalk and BLT which are really close to parks. I also love OKW which is not within walking distance to the parks, but it is centrally located. I felt like we had to drive a long ways to get anywhere from AKV. It was a pain for us and will probably stop us from staying there again in the near future. Anyway eventually we made it to the Hollywood Studios parking lot and through the bag check. Right as we made it through bag check we saw Minnie Mouse come out to meet some of her fans. Wendy was all over that. The boys, of course, not so much. Because she is a girl. So Wendy headed over to say hello to her BFF while the boys headed for the line to get in. We hopped in line and guess who walked up just as it was our turn. A photopass photographer! Wendy and Minnie greeted each other with a hug.

They happily posed for the photographer.

I joined them for a quick picture. Minnie really did look lovely this day.

Then we went over to find our boys. Around 8:40 they started letting people in the gates. The plan this morning was to divide and conquer. DH took Wendy and John towards Toy Story to pick up some fastpasses. Michael and I headed the other way because Michael was itching for a fight with Darth Vader. We’d fought Darth Vader before, but it had been in 2009 so Michael didn’t have much of a memory of the experience. Things had changed a bit and instead of wearing bright yellow shirts and jumping up and down to get picked we now just had to head to Sounds Dangerous to sign up right at open. This actually is a much better way to do it. So we headed over there and hopped in line. While we were in line DH texted me the fastpass times and the times would mess with our preferred showtime. We also had a lunch ADR we were trying to work around. Anyway we ended up with the 11:30 show. After we got all of that stuff figured out we all met up. Wendy wanted to go on the Great Movie Ride, but the boys were hankering for Star Tours. Now we had two grown ups so we could do both! So the boys headed to Star Tours while Wendy and I took a ride through the movies. Then we all met up again and DH wanted to ride Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. So he left us. We somehow were hanging out by the hat. We spotted Goofy and decided to hop in line. We really hadn’t seen him much this trip. While we were waiting, Goofy left and Donald & Daisy came to replace him. Wendy was happy and I actually was too. Both Donald & Daisy were looking dapper. As we headed up to meet them, the kids immediately divided up based on gender.

Wendy and Daisy were having a grand old time. Daisy really appreciated Wendy’s color choice for the day.

They all managed to get together for a group picture.

I decided to join the fun.

Then John decided he wanted a solo shot. Daisy was making a bit of trouble while John was getting his picture.

The girls thought they were pretty funny.

John did finally get a picture bunny ear free.

The girls finally quit giggling and posed.

This was a great meet. One of my favorites of the trip.

 

[momabbate]

That looks like a fun meet and greet day. How fun to have Wendy start the day with Minnie. And then to be able to giggle with Daisy. Glad Donald was there for the boys. I love meet and greets.

 

[RGirl]

Ugh - my fear about the transportation time is what has kept me from booking AKL in the past. I am still leaning toward doing it and enjoying more resort time, but your thoughts make a little concerned.

I love the pictures with Hollywood Minnie! And Hollywood Donald and Daisy too - I think they are so adorable in their DHS attire! What great interaction you had with them too.

 

[chattadisser]

AKL is kinda "out-there" in terms of location but I think that it is great for relaxing at. You can definately feel like you are at a resort and enjoy all the amenities.

Your divide and ride plan seems to have worked great. Glad to hear you had fun on your Christmas trip.

Christine

 

[dismagiclover]

That looks like a fun meet and greet day. How fun to have Wendy start the day with Minnie. And then to be able to giggle with Daisy. Glad Donald was there for the boys. I love meet and greets.

It really was a fun meet and greet. The characters are something so uniquely Disney! I love them!

Ugh - my fear about the transportation time is what has kept me from booking AKL in the past. I am still leaning toward doing it and enjoying more resort time, but your thoughts make a little concerned.

I love the pictures with Hollywood Minnie! And Hollywood Donald and Daisy too - I think they are so adorable in their DHS attire! What great interaction you had with them too.

AKL is a super relaxing and enjoyable resort. I'm sure we will stay there again, but I think it will just be for a couple of nights. Then we will just enjoy the resort. For park visits we really do prefer other locations. Though you'll see later in the trip it is super convenient to AK. We popped over there for just a couple hours at the end of the day and it was great.
I love the Hollywood Minnie too. She doesn't meet in that dress anymore. Now she is in her dressing room in the normal red polka dot. The dressing room is super cute, but I liked the pink dress.

AKL is kinda "out-there" in terms of location but I think that it is great for relaxing at. You can definately feel like you are at a resort and enjoy all the amenities.

Your divide and ride plan seems to have worked great. Glad to hear you had fun on your Christmas trip.

Christine

I agree about the relaxing atmosphere of AKL. There is so much to enjoy there. So we loved that. We just got spoiled by staying at BWV and BLT this trip. So we were used to just walking to parks.

 

[dismagiclover]

Our Toy Story fastpass time had arrived. So we met up with DH and headed over that way. John, of course, had the highest score. All that video game time has to be good for something, right? Anyway at this point it was time for Michael to head over to check in for Jedi training. They were supposed to be there 30 minutes before showtime. I saw no reason for all of us to head over, so DH took Michael to check in. Meanwhile Wendy, John and I headed to the Animation Academy. (Because this is my favorite thing at Hollywood Studios.) We made it into the next show and our animator gave us a choice. We could draw Dopey or Donald. I was so excitied! As you know, I’m in Dopey training so I thought it would be perfect to draw him. I instructed Wendy and John to vote for Dopey and they kindly complied. However, there were only 7 votes for Dopey and 27 for Donald. So no Dopey drawing for me. So close. Anyway here are the final results. This is John’s drawing.

Here is mine.

Wendy wasn’t happy with hers and immediately threw it away. So no picture. After the drawing class we hustled over to Jedi Academy and had front row for the show. It wasn’t too long before we spotted the recruits. Time for the training to commence.

It was Michael’s turn. His battle with Darth Vader was on. He was focused.

Nothing was getting by Michael.

He had all the right moves.

After vanquishing Vader the kids lined up for final words from their instructor.

The new class of Padawans was presented to us.

They returned their robes and received their certificates.

Yay Michael. Michael loved the training academy, but truth be told I think DH loved it more. He grew up on Star Wars and if he could get away with it he’d be up on that stage fighting him. Conquering Vader had given Michael an appetite and luckily it was lunchtime. We headed over to our ADR.

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[RGirl]

Wow! I had no idea that DHS Minnie was meeting someplace else now! I am falling behind on my WDW knowledge now that I don’t currently have a trip in the works.

The Animation Academy drawing classes always sound like so much fun. Is 6 years old too young, do you think? We haven’t done it yet, but I think there is one in DLR too, and I would love to try it out!

I love the Jedi Training photos! What a cool thing that is. DD wanted to do it and planned on it for months, but then she just didn’t end up doing it - the heat and humidity really defeated her drive to do a lot of things. Understandably!

 

[chattadisser]

I had forgotten about Minnie moving...bummer about no more pink dress. It was so cute and SO went with the Hollywood theme. Is she back in the animation building in her dressing room? I'm trying to make sure I have my characters spots covered!

We love the animation drawing, even the four year old although sometimes she decides to draw whoever she wants!

How cute is Michael in the Jedi Academy training! Having girls with absolutely no Star Wars interest I doubt that I will ever see it in person. I'm with your DH, it looks like it would be fun!

Christine